Why COBOL Remains Relevant in 2025
As of April 2025, COBOL ranks 20th in the TIOBE Programming Community Index—showing a notable 0.03% rise in popularity from the previous year. This steady climb highlights the enduring relevance of COBOL in powering mission-critical applications across banking, insurance and government sectors.
Despite being over 60 years old, COBOL is far from obsolete. Organizations continue to hire COBOL developers to support and modernize essential systems. This renewed demand is driven by three key factors:
- Legacy System Maintenance
With many large enterprises still dependent on COBOL-based infrastructure, there’s a growing need for new developers as seasoned programmers retire.
- Modernization with COBOL 2023
The latest ISO/IEC 1989:2023 standard introduces advanced features—making COBOL more adaptable for integration with today’s tech stacks.
- Proven Reliability
COBOL is renowned for its stability in large-scale, high-volume data environments, making it a top choice for mission-critical solutions.
Many organizations still rely on COBOL-based systems for their core operations. As experienced COBOL programmers retire, the demand for skilled replacements is rising. Nestack Technologies offers highly experienced COBOL developers to help maintain, modernize and enhance these legacy systems—ensuring continuity, reliability and long-term performance. Hire COBOL developers from Nestack to keep your mission-critical applications running smoothly.
IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Version 6.5.x - June 13, 2025
IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Version 6.5.x—set for general availability on June 13, 2025—is built to enhance performance on IBM Z hardware while enabling modernization of mission-critical systems. If you’re planning to upgrade or modernize your COBOL applications, it’s the perfect time to hire COBOL developers with hands-on experience in enterprise environments and the latest compiler features.
- Performance Optimization
The compiler leverages advanced optimization techniques to reduce CPU utilization and operational costs. It fully exploits the latest IBM Z hardware capabilities, enhancing the efficiency of critical applications.
- Application Modernization
Version 6.5.x facilitates the extension of COBOL applications to support web, cloud, and mobile environments. This ensures that legacy systems can integrate seamlessly with modern platforms while maintaining stability and reliability.
- Developer Productivity
Enhanced problem determination tools and modern development environments are included to increase programmer efficiency. These tools simplify debugging and reduce development time and operational complexity.
ISO/IEC 1989:2023 standard
The ISO/IEC 1989:2023 standard, published in January 2023, represents the third edition of the COBOL programming language specification. This update introduces several enhancements aimed at modernizing COBOL for contemporary computing environments. Hire COBOL Developers from Nestack familiar with the latest ISO/IEC 1989:2023 standard.
- Asynchronous Messaging
Introduces SEND and RECEIVE statements to facilitate asynchronous communication between programs, enhancing support for concurrent processing.
- Enhanced Boolean Operations
Adds support for Boolean exclusive OR (XOR) and logical shift operators, expanding the language’s logical operation capabilities.
- Extended Identifier Length
Increases the maximum length of COBOL words to 63 characters, allowing for more descriptive naming conventions.